Singapore, 20 May 2021 – In view of the upcoming Olympic, Paralympic, and Southeast Asian Games, Singapore Sports Hub will be closing the OCBC Arena and OCBC Aquatic Centre to the public, from 21 May 2021 till further notice, to facilitate the safe and uninterrupted training of our Team Singapore athletes during Phase 2: Heightened Alert. This arrangement will ensure athletes can train in their own bubbles with no cross-exposure with the public. Athletes who will benefit from this closure are from the following sports: Badminton, Basketball, Boccia, Netball, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Fencing, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Silat, Swimming and Diving. All training will continue to follow mandated Safe Management Measures (SMMs). For more details on SMMs at our venues and facilities, please visit here.
Quotes from Coaches and Athlete
Fencing
Andrey Klyushin, Head Coach & National Foil Coach
Fencing Singapore
We are appreciative of Singapore Sports Hub’s decision to provide a safe and contained environment for our national fencers’ which will allow them to better focus on their high performance training.
Swimming
Gary Tan, National Training Centre Head Coach
Singapore Swimming Association
The closure of the OCBC Aquatic Centre for our swimmers and divers is a good initiative. With the current rate and scale of infections in Singapore, creating a bubble and safe haven for our athletes is most ideal for them to train within. This allows them to carry out their hard training and work towards their medal goals.
Yip Pin Xiu, National Paralympic Swimmer
Team Singapore
The safety of everyone is of paramount importance and we appreciate the sacrifices everyone has had to make this past year. As athletes, we recognise it is a privilege to continue training amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. I am thankful for a safe environment for training and to prepare for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. I will strive to do my best and represent Singapore to the best of my abilities
Badminton
Mr Robert Lim, Secretary-General and Vice President (Pathway and Development)
Singapore Badminton Association
Being able to consistently train is key in allowing our players to maintain their edge on the court. The Singapore Badminton Association is very grateful to the Singapore Sports Hub for their strong support in ensuring that our training venue at OCBC Arena would be a safe and contained environment. These measures are important to help keep our players safe, prevent possible infections from the new more virulent strains, and allow them to continue training amidst these difficult times.
###
MEDIA ENQUIRIES
Phyllicia Gan
Consultant, Mutant Communications
[email protected]
Gerri Kwan
Assistant Director, Communications, Singapore Sports Hub
[email protected]
ABOUT SINGAPORE SPORTS HUB
The Singapore Sports Hub is a fully integrated sports, entertainment and lifestyle hub, with programming that comprises world-class recreational and competitive events, as well as community events, to serve children, youth, working adults, seniors, families, and less privileged population segments in Singapore and tourism sectors. Consisting of a unique cluster development of world-class sports facilities within the city, it plays a critical role in accelerating the development of Singapore’s sports industry, excellence and participation. Its vision is to be the region’s premier sports, entertainment and lifestyle destination.
Located on a 35-hectare site in Kallang, the Singapore Sports Hub includes the following facilities:
- A new 55,000-capacity National Stadium with a retractable roof and movable tiered seating
- The iconic Singapore Indoor Stadium
- A 6,000-capacity OCBC Aquatic Centre that meets FINA standards
- A 3,000-capacity OCBC Arena which is scalable and flexible in layout
- Water Sports Centre featuring kayaking and canoeing
- 41,000 sqm Kallang Wave Mall, including indoor climbing wall and Splash-N-Surf facility (Kids Waterpark, Stingray and Lazy River)
- 100PLUS Promenade that encircles the National Stadium
- Singapore Youth Olympic Museum & Singapore Sports Museum
- Sports Hub Library
- Shimano Cycling World
- Daily community facilities and activities, including beach volleyball, hard courts (futsal, basketball and netball) lawn bowls, giant chess, skate park and running & cycling paths.
The Singapore Sports Hub, which is managed by SportsHub Pte Ltd, is one of the largest sporting Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects in the world. It is also Singapore's largest flagship PPP project of this nature and has won the Project Finance International (PFI) award in London in 2011, World Architecture Festival Awards for Best Future Project in the leisure-led development category in 2013 and Sports Building of the Year in 2014.
For more information, please visit the Singapore Sports Hub:
- Website: www.sportshub.com.sg
- Facebook: sporesportshub
- Twitter: @sgsportshub
- Instagram: sgsportshub